The Mysterious Killing of 'Tex' Bagwell
A well-known gambler is found dead from a rifle shot in North Yakima, leaving behind a web of suspicion and a widow's former husband.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
N. S. Bagwell, a gambler, was shot and instantly killed early this morning while going home by an unknown man, who afterwards made his escape and is now at large. The murderer, who was concealed behind a picket fence, waited until his victim had passed by, and then shot him in the back with a rifle. The bullet pierced the heart and Bagwell died instantly. Robbery was not the object of the shooting, as Bagwell, when found, had over $100 in money in his pockets. Among many theories, the most plausible one is that murder was prompted by a spirit of revenge. Bagwell was married to a divorced woman and her former husband, named Lavergne, was here yesterday. Bagwell was widely known by the sporting fraternity as 'Tex,' a name given him on account of his being a native of Texas. When found shortly after being shot he had fallen on his face. One outstretched hand grasped a cane, and the other a loaded but undischarged revolver. It is not believed by friends that he knew of the approach of the assassin.
“The murderer, as soon as he saw the shot was fatal, concealed his rifle under the sidewalk and made his way across the river.”
This North Yakima (now Yakima) mystery illustrates the volatility of frontier justice, where personal feuds were often settled by ambush. The 'sporting' culture of turn-of-the-century Washington saw gambling dens as central to urban life, a far cry from the strictly regulated gaming of today's state.
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